Watching television channels online is becoming increasingly popular, although TVs are still used in many homes. Someone is watching TV through a conventional antenna, someone using a satellite dish, and in most cases they use cable TV. It is worth noting that the antenna cable has a huge impact on the quality of television broadcasting. In the era of innovative technologies, it is difficult for consumers to decide on the choice of products of this type, so today we will focus on products of this type.
Bit of theory
Antenna cable consists of several conductive cores of small diameter, insulated among themselves and covered with general insulation. The main objective of the cable is to transmit induced pickups to the TV. Any antenna cable has special characteristics that can be calculated by the formulas.
Antenna conductors are made in various designs, both from solid wires and twisted cores. If necessary, manufacture a flexible antenna cable using threads. It should be noted that the value of attenuation depends on the performance of such a product. The more flexible the antenna cable, the higher the attenuation value, which, in turn, describes the signal loss from the beginning of power to the receiver.
How to determine the best television cable?
At the moment, the market offers several types of antenna cables for television with a huge difference in cost. What is the difference? The first thing you should pay attention to is the quality of insulation. In cheaper options, it is very fragile. The second criterion for the price range is the material from which the center conductor is made. It is better to give preference to conductors with copper conductors. Shielding an antenna cable for a TV is also one of the determining criteria for the price range. The screen provides a clearer television antenna signal.
Insulation
The outer sheath should be the most dense, the life of the cable directly depends on it. One of the best and most reliable is PTFE insulation. It has high resistance to any external influences. In the manufacture of coaxial antenna cables, PVC-based insulation materials are also used. This insulation has a rather low cost and is cheaper than other types of insulation. Its advantages include high elasticity and heat resistance.
Central conductor
The central conductor of the coaxial antenna cable is made of copper or alloys. The main core, consisting of copper, has several advantages, due to which it is incredibly resilient, reliable and non-brittle, and also guarantees the correct fixation of the connection connector. The central conductor of the antenna cable, made of copper, contributes to the best loop resistance of the direct current passing in the antenna wire. This cable parameter is very useful if long products are used, and amplifiers are used to feed the entire structure.
Also, in the copper conductor there is practically no distortion of the signals, therefore it is preferable to choose such devices. An important factor is the thickness of the core: the more, the better. Size in this case plays a big role, so be careful! Gold-plated connector provides better signal conductivity.
Shielding
Typically, foil or braided aluminum film is used as the screen. In the manufacture of cables of the old type, braided wire was used as shielding, although in our time there are also cables in this design. The price of an antenna cable with one screen will be much lower, but it is impossible to use such a product for broadcasting a television signal.
Using the screen, it is possible to reduce the effect of interference on the cable and thereby reduce the level of interference emitted by itself. Dual-screen cables have higher attenuation values, which improves the quality of the transmitted television signal. If there is no shielding layer in the form of a foil in the cable, then as a result there is guaranteed the presence of additional interference on the TV screen, as well as a number of other side defects. It should also be noted that with increasing cable length, the signal level will deteriorate.
With the selection criteria and the price of the antenna cable, which is an average of sixty rubles per meter, have been determined, now we will consider the installation issues.
Compound
There are several options for connecting the antenna cable. To connect the conductor through the adapter, you must remove the outer sheath from both ends of the cable. Next, clean the inner insulation of the conductor conductors and make the connection through the adapter. To connect the plug with the socket, it is necessary to screw a television plug on one end of the cable, and a television socket on the other end, and then connect them. For better reliability it is necessary to tape this connection with electrical tape.
The plug can be either direct or angular, while there is no difference in installation between them. An angled plug is used to connect where a straight plug is inconvenient to use, and when creating complex turns.
Another way to connect the antenna cable is through the splitter. This is an adapter with one input and two or more outputs. The splitter is attached to the floor or wall to exclude the possibility of pulling out the cabling.
One of the old proven ways to connect a cable is twisting. This method is the least reliable since the connection is not protected from electrical interference. To improve the quality of the transmitted signal, the twist can be soldered with tin and placed away from the wiring in order to reduce the effects of interference.
Connection
Consider how to connect an antenna cable. When buying a cable, you need to make a small margin in length, because due to the large number of providers that provide television services, often the cables fail.
In this regard, it may be necessary to re-cut the television cable. As a rule, mounting boxes are located on the walls in the entrance, from which there are antenna cables for apartments. In these boxes are the taps of the television signal. To connect the TV cable to the cable network, you must connect the antenna cable connector to the subscriber coupler located in the installation box, and the second cable connector is connected to the TV.
Connection
Sometimes the question arises of how to connect the antenna cable to the TV when the plug is missing. To connect a cable without a plug, it is necessary to remove the cable insulation, unscrew the shielding braid, and then clean the insulation of the central core.
If for some reason your braid consists of a metal such as aluminum, then several copper wires can be installed in the free space for connection. For better reliability of fixing the cable in the connector, we recommend sealing the connection with improvised means, such as glue. Connection in this way will serve for a long time and carry out a good relay of the television signal.
Recommendations
If we analyze, we can conclude that most of the positive reviews accounted for cable brand CAVEL. Most users note many advantages of this product.
One of the advantages of such cables is the elimination of moisture inside. Since water significantly attenuates high-frequency energy, this can affect large signal loss. Therefore, in cables of cheaper products, various foam dielectrics and even carbon films are often used. However, they do not save the cable from catastrophic absorption of moisture.
Also, one of the indisputable advantages of products of this brand is that when bending the cable sheath does not break, which cannot be said from those where the sheath is not tight. Usually, after squeezing, the dielectric easily returns to its shape, and the braid remains in the same position, which leads to its deformation.
Finally
We hope that after reading this article you learned everything about antenna cables, because the choice between the best options will always help you in the arrangement of your home. Remember that when choosing the product you need, you first need to consult with the seller. It is also recommended that you always consider the chemical dielectric and its braid.